A Newly Assertive Algeria Seizes an Opportunity

A Newly Assertive Algeria Seizes an Opportunity

Thursday, January 19, 2023

By: Thomas M. Hill

For decades, Algeria has eschewed participation in international affairs. As a member of the non-aligned movement, the country has been described as “anti-Western,” “anti-capitalist,” and “insular.” Privately, American diplomats describe the government as one of the region’s most challenging to penetrate and understand. But over the last two years, there have been signs that Algeria is changing and starting to flex its economic and political muscles, which has accelerated in the wake of the war in Ukraine, with Algeria capitalizing on opportunities created by changes to global energy markets. Algeria has also increasingly asserted itself in the African Union and Arab League, stepped up its lobbying efforts in foreign capitals and is deepening ties with Beijing. But is Algeria ready for the responsibility that accompanies the role it is positioning to play?

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & Prevention

Morocco Reflects a Global South Dilemma: Water or Food?

Morocco Reflects a Global South Dilemma: Water or Food?

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

By: Thomas M. Hill;  Martin Pimentel

Morocco, like many countries across the “global south,” faces an intensifying dilemma: While it has improved its food production to reduce food insecurity and undernourishment, that progress has stressed the country’s limited water supplies with water-intensive industrial farming practices. As climate change intensifies structural drought throughout the Maghreb, Sahel and elsewhere, these regions must develop policies that treat food insecurity and water scarcity as interlinked crises. U.S. and international support for these changes will be vital.

Type: Analysis

EnvironmentGlobal Policy

Ukraine War Puts New Focus on Conflict in Western Sahara

Ukraine War Puts New Focus on Conflict in Western Sahara

Thursday, April 14, 2022

By: Thomas M. Hill

After years of stagnation in the conflict over the Western Sahara, the Russian war on Ukraine and other recent events could create openings to advance long-stalled Western Sahara peace efforts. Unprecedented parallel visits by America’s top two diplomats to Morocco and Algeria last month suggest that the U.S. is exploring this new opening. The United States should firmly grasp any new chance to end this often-forgotten conflict, which helps breed conditions for extremism and transnational crime, prevents much needed economic growth, and which risks worsened instability from the Mediterranean to Africa’s Sahel region.

Type: Analysis

Peace Processes

Saudi-Turkish Clash Reinforces Tensions in the Maghreb

Saudi-Turkish Clash Reinforces Tensions in the Maghreb

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

By: Andrew Hanna

Morocco notched a diplomatic win this week as the United Arab Emirates opened a consulate in the Western Sahara, where Rabat has long sought international recognition of its claim over the disputed territory. It also signaled a troubling regional shift. The hostility between Turkey and the Saudi-aligned Arab states risks embroiling the Maghreb region, much as it already complicates conflicts and politics from Libya to the Red Sea region. In North Africa, as across the greater Middle East, a widening of the Turkish-Saudi confrontation is heightening the risks of destabilization and threats to U.S. regional and counterterrorism interests.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & Prevention

Building Regional Border Security Cooperation: Lessons from the Maghreb

Building Regional Border Security Cooperation: Lessons from the Maghreb

Monday, September 19, 2016

By: James Cohen;  Leanne McKay;  Joyce A. Kasee

The Maghreb countries of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia face threats to their borders from transnational illicit networks, such as terrorist groups and criminal organizations. To address these threats, USIP convened operational border officials from the three countries through a series of workshops in spring 2016. This brief highlights the key lessons that emerged from this work: addressing border security requires understanding the underlying drivers of insecurity; border security requires st...

Type: Peace Brief

Justice, Security & Rule of Law

Q&A: Muslim Scholars Pledge Support for Religious Minorities

Q&A: Muslim Scholars Pledge Support for Religious Minorities

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Muslim scholars and intellectuals from more than 120 countries issued a new pledge of support last week for the protection and freedom of religious minorities in Muslim-majority communities. Susan Hayward, USIP’s director of religion and inclusive societies and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, attended the three-day conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, as a supporter, and explains the significance of the pronouncement.

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismReligionGlobal Policy

Participatory and Inclusive Constitution-Making

Participatory and Inclusive Constitution-Making

Thursday, January 29, 2015

By: Jason Gluck;  Michele Brandt

In the wake of the Arab Spring, citizens across the Middle East and North Africa are demanding reforms from their governments. How these governments respond to their people and promote inclusive constitution-making processes may determine whether their new social compacts lead to a durable peace. This report draws from the work of scholars and constitution makers who have been exchanging ideas about how to ensure that modern constitutions incorporate the needs and aspirations of the citizens ...

Type: Peaceworks

Justice, Security & Rule of LawDemocracy & Governance